


Catene Fantasma (Phantom Chains)

by Crexendo



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Abduction, Angst, Established Relationship, M/M, Multi, Original Character(s), POV First Person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-02
Updated: 2012-12-12
Packaged: 2017-11-20 01:58:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/580039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crexendo/pseuds/Crexendo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sawada Tsunayoshi went missing almost four months ago. His Guardians are each breaking in their own way, and only the Boss's return can fully heal the Famiglia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Embers

**Author's Note:**

> This . . . takes place at an undetermined time after ten years later. So like . . . twelve years later or something like that. I apologize if any of them seem OOC, I'll get better. I promise. Also, OC's won't appear until later. I apologize for the shortness of the first chapter, as it is sort of an introduction. Anywho, enjoy!

It was quiet, too quiet. It was always too quiet in this room these days. There was only the sound of my own breathing, and the faint sound of flames dancing in the darkness.

“Gokudera? You’re here again . . . ?” a voice called through the empty silence of the near abandoned meeting room.

I turned my head slightly, gazing over my shoulder at the familiar form of my stalwart lover standing in the doorway nearby from where I sat in my velvet backed chair. “Do you have a problem with that, Takeshi?” I asked sourly, habitual irritation rising up in my chest, followed by slight exasperation and a twinge of pain.

Yamamoto shook his head silently, coming into the dimly lit room, illuminated only by the very things I’d come in here to stare at; the seven different colored flames inside their ornate glass canisters, one for each of the six Guardians of the Vongola, and the largest one for the Head of the Famiglia. 

It was something I had invented on the Boss’s suggestion. There were seven glass containers, all expertly crafted and decorated with beautiful etching and silver and gold inlay, and inside each one was a colored flame representing one of the Vongola Rings. They’d been burning there since they’d first been lit, as I had designed them to. There was a device embedded in each one to keep the flames going, among other things, but the Boss had been so pleased with them, he’d had this room redone just to house them, and within a few weeks, it became the room where the Boss met with all the Guardians. 

The glass capsules were hung from the ceiling in a wide circle, each one resting about three feet above a specially crafted chair, each one with identical marks as the ones etched into the glass of their respective flame holder. Brass nameplates were affixed to the back of each one, naming the Guardian who owned both the chair and the Ring. The flames burned brighter when the Ring wielder was sitting in the chair, like mine was. 

Mine were the red Dying Will flames of the Vongola Ring of the Storm. But my flame wasn’t what I was looking at. It was the bright orange tongues of fire flickering weakly inside the largest of the containers. The Boss’s Sky flames . . . . I’d come in here to watch it for any sign of change . . . as I often did. 

“This flame is the only clue we have as to the Boss’s condition.” I murmured, “The size and intensity reflect the condition of the wielder . . . . Juudaime’s flame being this small can only mean he’s either unconscious or severely injured . . . perhaps both. And if it goes out . . . .” I couldn’t bring myself to finish my sentence, as muted rage and self-loathing simmered inside me once again.

Why hadn’t I been there . . . ? Why hadn’t I been able to protect him? Why couldn’t I have prevented this from even happening in the first place?!

Warm arms and hands suddenly jerked me out of my chair and against a hard, toned chest, yanking me out my muddled and anger-ridden thoughts, and a set of soft lips connected with my forehead for a moment. 

“Please, Hayato . . . stop blaming yourself for what happened. It wasn’t your fault, and there’s no sense in hating yourself for something that was beyond your control . . . !” Yamamoto’s voice was soft, but harsh with pain and sadness.

I wanted to protest, I wanted to argue, I really did, but at the same time, more than that, I didn’t want to cause my lover more pain than I already had. The blame I believed I so rightly deserved hurt him, I knew it hurt him to see me so angry and high-strung all the time. I could see where he was coming from, as a lover, but as the Boss’s right hand man, I should have been there, at the Boss’s side when unknown assailants somehow penetrated the heart of the Vongola base and took him right out from under us. Or I should have died trying.

That had been nearly four months ago. Despite all our efforts, and the efforts of our allies, we hadn’t found so much as a whisper of our Boss’s whereabouts. The only proof we had that he was still alive was the tiny flame burning in the display, but even then . . . it was getting a lot of skepticism from those who didn’t know the inner workings of Deathsperation flames, mostly from the senior families in the Vongola, who were beginning to call for a new heir to be chosen and made Head of the Family.

The most popular choices seemed to be myself, an invitation I’d so adamantly refused the moment I’d gotten it, and Ira Xanxus, despite his past crimes and blasphemous acts against the Vongola. Surprisingly enough, though, Xanxus had also refused the call for him to take the seat as Head of the Famiglia, at least for now. He’d said that until he knew the Tenth was truly and legitimately dead, he wouldn’t even consider it. I think he meant the Boss’s flame. As one who intimately understood Dying Will flames, he knew the flame would burn as long as the Boss was still alive.

I melted into Yamamoto’s embrace, burying my face in his shoulder as my emotions threatened to overwhelm me again. “Where is he, Takeshi?!” I asked softly, desperately, “Why can’t we find him . . . !? The Varia and the Cavallone, even Hibari and Mukuro! None of them can find even a trace of him! Why?! Where is he?! Where is Juudaime?!” by the time I finished, I was yelling, and I could feel my lover tense up at the raw anguish and bitter fury in my voice. 

I knew Yamamoto didn’t have the answers I was looking for, and I knew in some ways, he was just as lost as I was . . . but I . . . I just wanted to know that the man I’d sworn to follow through life and death was alright . . . . I wanted him back, and I wanted him to smile at me like he usually did and tell me everything was okay. Because right now . . . it wasn’t. Nothing was, and until the Boss was safe and sound back here, it wouldn’t be.

~

This wasn’t the first time Gokudera had fallen apart like this, in fact, as his lover, I could accurately say it happened at least once a week. But I was starting to sense that even Gokudera was beginning to lose his hope that he’d ever see Tsuna again.

I didn’t know how to comfort him, what to say to make him feel better, what to do to soothe his pain, fear, and anxiety. All he had was his loyalty, and a tiny orange flame flickering behind clear glass. I knew, the entire Famiglia knew, that he blamed himself for Tsuna’s disappearance, and no matter what anyone said to him, he continued to hold onto the belief that he could have prevented it somehow, if he had been there. That, combined with the pressure of the Family’s top officials constantly badgering him, and all of us Guardians, to give up the search for Tsuna and choose an new Head, was really taking a toll on my Hayato.

The Vongola Famiglia was in shambles at the moment and Gokudera was desperately trying to hold it together, both physically and mentally. It didn’t help that Lambo was a lazy, near useless idiot most of the time, that Hibari was almost completely disinterested in whatever the Family did, and that Mukuro was who knew where doing who knew what, doubtless causing trouble in the Mafia world, even though Tsuna was the one responsible for his release from the Vindicte penitentiary. Only Ryohei, Gokudera, and I were trusted to do anything by the senior officials, but even then, neither Ryohei or I were actually from a Mafia family, so a lot of things fell to Gokudera to get done in Tsuna’s absence.

Tsuna’s disappearance was bizarre on its own. It couldn’t be explained, no one had seen it happen and there had been virtually no clues left behind as to who had taken our Boss. So far, we knew next to nothing about the incident other than what Mukuro had said when we’d finally managed to convince him and Chrome to take a look at the crime scene, i.e. Tsuna’s bedroom. The estranged Mist Guardian had walked into the room, which looked essentially spotless and immaculate, with no signs of a struggle to be seen, looked around a little, and immediately announced that there was a powerful illusion set in the room, one strong enough to linger though the caster was gone.

Once he’d dismantled the hallucination, we all stared in horror at the bloody wreckage that had been hidden from us. The place was a mess, with broken furniture, smashed décor, and vivid burn marks lacing the walls, floor, and ceiling, but most noticeable of all, was the dried blood splattered here and there. There had been a fight here, and a big one. Despite the discovery of the real crime scene, all we could really glean from it was traces of Tsuna’s flames, and a couple corpses so badly burned, they crumbled into ash when touched, leaving nothing conclusive behind. The blood was found to be Tsuna’s, and even though we tested every patch we could find, it was always his, and no one else’s.

How any of us had missed a fight of this scale was beyond us, though Mukuro had said that it was hardly surprising, if an illusionist strong enough to put an illusion like the one he’d just taken apart had been present. Besides that, Tsuna’s private rooms were designed to be just that, private. The floor, ceiling and walls had all been soundproofed, and there were no cameras on the interior of the Boss’s rooms. Perhaps it had been an oversight on our part, but no one really wanted to spy on Tsuna (except maybe Reborn or Mukuro), since he was so carefully watched at all other times, and we’d honestly been confident in our security.

It was hard for everyone to watch our Family begin to crumble, especially after everything we’d done to build it up to its former glory, but hardest of all for Hayato. And the only thing I could do for him was offer a shoulder for him to cry on, off a distraction from the strain of everyday life, and just be there for him, even though there was really nothing else I could do to right the wrongs that had been presented to us.


	2. Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Others join the search, but nothing can be found . . . not yet. But who lies in the darkness, calling?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A long overdue update. I am very sorry. *bows profusely* Anyways, this next chapter introduces more pairings and the first of the OC's gets MENTIONED. I also apologize if the characters seem slightly OOC. I am only an expert on Vongola Primo. But, here you are! Please enjoy my mediocre skill!

“Mukuro-sama . . . ? Is something wrong?”

Mukuro glanced over his shoulder at the girl in the deep violet cloak, huddled into its folds to fend off the cold of the mid-winter wind blowing harshly around them. It matched her eyes and hair well, he thought. They knew each other well, so well, in fact, that at times they were almost the same person, but even though he knew her so well, Mukuro sometimes forgot that she knew him just as intimately, which meant she could often perceive his thoughts and emotions. Like right now, she had picked up on his slight confusion and swirling thoughts.

He offered her a small smile. “Not really, Chrome. I was just reviewing Tsunayoshi-kun’s disappearance again.” He said pleasantly, trying not to upset the violet haired girl. 

But at the mention of her Boss, Chrome’s royal purple eyes dimmed slightly with sadness. She missed him. He’d always been very nice to her, always taken care of her when she’d been injured, or when her illusionary organs failed her, always insisted that she was part of his Famiglia, as much the Mist Guardian as Mukuro was. He was polite to Mukuro as well, which was a plus in her books, and she knew he was responsible for the Mist Guardian’s release from prison. 

She wanted desperately to find him, which was part of the reason Mukuro had brought her, Ken, and Chikusa with him up to a small town in the highlands of Northern Italy. But only part of it. He had a debt to pay to the young Vongola Boss, the debt he owed him for releasing him from the Vindicte penitentiary. He had his own suspicions as to what had happened to Tsuna. He’d had them since examining the powerful illusion blanketing the Vongola’s bedroom. 

_‘There are too many pieces missing from this puzzle. The crime was too perfect, there was too little left behind . . . . It’s not possible for a battle scene like that to be so clean. Something strange happened that night . . . .’_

“Mukuro-sama, who exactly are we going to meet? Why does it have to be in the highlands like this?! It’s freezing out here! And why are we walking, couldn’t we have taken one of those fancy Vongola cars?!” Ken grumbled loudly from where he and Chikusa trailed behind Chrome like some sort of rear guard.

The thought amused Mukuro, and a slight smile crossed his lips. For all of Ken’s complaints and protests, and Chikusa’s quiet brooding about having to guard and escort Chrome everywhere, they certainly treated her like their princess, and almost automatically fell in behind her these days, seemingly knowing it was their place. It pleased him to know that they knew what he expected of them. He was fairly certain they both greatly admired Chrome, but both were too proud to admit it.

“Her name is Alba Cristallo. You wouldn’t know her. She’s not very well known by her own design, but we happened to . . . run in to each other a few years ago.” He finally replied to Ken’s gruff queries, “And we’re up here because this is where she lives. We’re walking because I want as few people as possible to see us here, and even fewer to know who we are. If we came in a Vongola car, everyone in this town would have known something was going on.”

“This is about finding the Vongola brat, isn’t it?! I thought you gave up on that, Mukuro-sama! You said there was too little evidence!” the sandy-haired boy spat just over the thick, fur lined collar of his heavy parka. 

“You didn’t have to come, Ken.” Chikusa murmured, breaking his long, self-imposed silence.

“Shut up! Like hell I would’ve stayed behind!” Ken snarled back.

Within seconds, the two of them had dissolved into fruitless yelling (on Ken’s part) and pointless murmured counter-arguments (on Chikusa’s), which Mukuro knew from experience, would turn into a bloody fistfight if not stopped soon, but for the moment, he let them have at each other. He continued staring at the paved, icy road in front of him, until someone tugged on his sleeve from behind. He looked over his shoulder expectantly.

It was Chrome, who looked up at him with her big, purple doe eyes and asked, very quietly, “We’ll find the Boss . . . right, Mukuro-sama?”

Mukuro wanted to tell her yes, for her sake, because he cared about her, but . . . he couldn’t lie to her, for the same reason. He turned his gaze back towards the path they were climbing up to where Cristallo’s home was, and replied just as softly, “We’ll see.”

He could feel Chrome’s resolve waver for just a second.

“But remember, finding Tsunayoshi-kun is why we’re here. With any luck, Alba-san will know something. If anyone knows anything about this incident, it will be her.” The blue-haired Mist Guardian added smoothly, just to cheer up his smaller half.

Hope flared up in Chrome and a familiar expression settled onto her face, that one of determination and unwavering faith. “We’ll find the Boss.” She whispered, mostly to herself. 

Mukuro only hoped that he didn’t let her down.

~

Hibari Kyoya often wondered what had possessed him to say ‘yes’ when the blonde idiot, Bronco Dino Cavallone, had asked him to return to Italy with him, and live in the Cavallone main house. Maybe it had been the promise of getting to run the entire defense sector of the whole Cavallone headquarters. Maybe it had been the prospect of having ample time to hone his skills and to defeat the previously named moronic excuse for a Mafia boss, but not just defeat, no, it was more like he’d have the opportunity to **completely obliterate** him, like he’d been wanting to for quite some time.

But . . . most embarrassingly and probably the most likely reason he’d agreed to this ridiculous arrangement, had been the face the aforementioned blonde had made when asking him; just like a puppy begging for attention from his master, who, in this care, was Hibari.

No matter that Bronco Dino had previously pledged undying love for him (numerous times, even), no matter that they’d already had sex together on multiple occasions, no matter that Hibari maybe, sort-of, might have just faintly, kinda, not-really-but-yes, started developing feelings for the blonde in return, nothing could convince him to give up his comfortable and familiar surroundings in Namimori to suddenly relocate to Italy.

Except, apparently, that face.

He’d agreed to go, only on the understanding that he was only there because he wanted to be, that he could leave at anytime for any reason, that he could do whatever he wanted and didn’t owe anyone an explanation for anything, and that he’d bite to death anyone who looked at him as if he were Dino’s bride. And it went without saying that he’d also get everything Dino had already promised him.

It was a grudging agreement on Hibari’s part, but he knew very well that he could put up as many stipulations as he wanted, and Dino would agree with them, so long as he came. For a few years after that, life passed without major incident, excluding the couple times Hibari smashed entire wings of the Cavallone mansion while chasing Dino because the blonde had invariably done something stupid and pissed him off.

But then had come the new that the young Head of the Vongola Famiglia, Vongola the Tenth, Sawada Tsunayoshi had been taken under mysterious circumstances from the very heart of the the Vongola headquarters. Hibari immediately said it didn’t concern or involve him, even though he was one of Tsuna’s Six Guardians, bearer of the purple flames of the Cloud Ring, and initially refused to join the investigation.

Dino, on the other hand, instantly launched himself and all the resources he could spare into looking for his ‘little brother’. But, like the Vongola teams, the Cavallone had come up with nothing, and Dino only got more anxious and haggard as the days passed. Dino ran himself absolutely ragged, and once he was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion, Hibari deemed it necessary to intervene, as he could no longer let his lover neglect his own health for the sake of the Vongola.

On his way up the stairs one morning, he abruptly grabbed the blonde by the collar of his coat as the other passed him, doubtlessly on his way down and out to the Vongola HQ, and dragged him back up the stairs. 

“A-Ah! Kyoya! What are you doing?!” Dino stammered, startled by Hibari’s actions.

“You haven’t slept more than four hours in nearly three days, idiot. You’re about to pass out from exhaustion.” The black-haired male hissed back, not caring at all that the two of them were being stared at by every member of the Cavallone Famiglia they passed.

Most of them were actually smiling. They’d seen their boss relentlessly trying to find the young Vongola boss, at the expense of his own wellbeing, and at some point, most of them had tried to convince him to slow down and rest, but when Bronco Dino Cavallone was determined to do something, there was nothing anyone could do to stop him, unless you were Hibari Kyoya. They’d been confident that the skylark would step in before their boss caused himself actual harm. And he had.

“B-But, Kyoya, I have to go help look for Tsuna! We have to find him!” Cavallone Decimo protested, struggling faintly, not really trying very hard at all, partly because he was bone-tired, and partially because this was Hibari in stubborn mode. There was no way he’d be able to escape.

“Sawada Tsunayoshi has hundreds of people looking for him. They won’t miss just one.” Hibari retorted in a low voice, “Besides, running around until you kill yourself is not going to help Sawada. How are you going to be of help to anyone if you’re dead, Cavallone?”

They reached the massive bedroom that was classified as “theirs” when Hibari was in a favorable mood, and called “Dino’s” when he wasn’t, and right now, it was to be named as “Dino’s” bedroom. Hibari threw the doors open and proceeded to toss the blonde male onto the huge, canopy-covered bed. 

“Go to sleep, idiot.” Hibari hissed, “And you’re not to come out until you get at least ten hours. I’ll bite you to death if you do.”

Dino’s brown eyes narrowed, and through the tiredness in those chocolate colored depths, shone a bit of defiant stubbornness and helpless frustration. “Kyoya . . . .”

Hibari’s blue eyes gleamed almost coldly back. “Don’t argue with me, Dino, and don’t be stupid. You’re not my mentor anymore. You won’t help anyone in the state you’re in.” his voice was equally icy.

Dino sat up, apparently determined to argue, “Kyoya . . . . The Vongola-“

“Are not your Famiglia.” The Cloud Guardian cut him off before he could continue. 

Dino blinked, as if startled by that statement, and stared up at his lover.

“You have an obligation to your own Family. Your alliance with the Vongola comes second to that. And because of the duty you have to your men, you have to be in prime condition at all times. Anything else makes you a liability, a weakness to both your Family, and yourself.” Hibari continued speaking, his tone leaving no room for protest or negotiation, expecting nothing but compliance, “So shut up, get some sleep, take a shower, then eat something, and leave finding Sawada to me.” Hibari’s pale blue eyes seemed harsh, but Dino could perceive the unspoken, grudging concern in them.

“T-To . . . you?!” Dino echoed slowly, making sure that he wasn’t mistaken in what he heard, “K-Kyoya . . . does that mean . . . ?!”

Hibari sighed. “Yes, I’ll join the investigation. For now. But you have to rest, or I won’t help them.” He snapped in response, his familiar hostility masking his emotions, like it usually did.

After that, Hibari had stood there like a guard dog until Dino fell asleep, even staying about half an hour longer to make sure the his lover was actually sleeping. After that, he went to get his beloved tonfas, his Vongola Box Weapon, and then went to go get into the car that had originally been waiting for Dino. That was, essentially, how Hibari ended up joining the teams trying to find Tsuna. 

It was he who deduced that the illusion placed over Tsuna’s room had been placed on something outside the room, something that anyone entering the room would have seen, which, in this case, was the door itself. Which explained why no one noticed it was an illusion until Mukuro had come. 

Hibari was the one who now lead the investigation, and he was probably the closest to figuring things out, but at the moment, even he was stuck. Dino had gotten plenty of rest and was now accompanying him but any clues to Tsuna’s captors as well as his whereabouts remained shrouded in mystery. 

~

_Where . . . am I . . . ?_

_It’s dark . . . ._

_Is anyone there . . . ?_

_Anyone . . . ?_

_Please . . . ._


End file.
